XCHANGE – Exchange of youth workers in International Voluntary Service

Project Partners:

Year of Realisation:

2017

Goal and Project Description:

Project duration: 1/12/2016 – 1/02/2018

The common denominator to project partners is International Voluntary Service (IVS), particularly workcamps as tools for youth active participation and local sustainable development. The consortium organises more than 200 international short-term voluntary projects –workcamps, which host 3000+ international volunteers and involve 400+ youth leaders.

11 partners are members of Alliance of European Voluntary Service organisations and one (Croma, Italy) brings an added value to the project with its specific profile of members – documentary film makers / youth workers. The involvement of the Alliance as a formal promoter assures wider visibility but also certified trainers in non-formal education with expertise in trainings of youth leaders in IVS projects.

This consortium wants to explore a new trend in IVS movement: exchange of youth leaders, as a response to a common challenge of decrease in number of youth leaders in the movement.

GENERAL AIM: Innovate, support and give recognition to youth leadership in the field of international voluntary service within the network of 13 involved project partners from 9 countries and 100+ local stakeholders from Serbia, Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, France, Spain, Turkey, Estonia, Finland.

OBJECTIVE 1: improve the level of key competences and skills of 20 youth leaders (10 from Serbia and 10 from Germany, Czech Republic, Italy, France, Spain, Turkey, Estonia, Finland)
OBJECTIVE 2: Foster an international/intercultural supportive environment and mentorship system for practicing youth leadership in IVS movement
OBJECTIVE 3: Raise awareness of the importance of specialised youth workers in the IVS field – workcamp leaders

There are three groups of residential activities:

• Act 1: International training of youth leaders (05/2017)
• Act 2 – 12: Practice Phase: Exchange of youth leaders in International Voluntary Service projects among the applicant and the partners – coordination of 20 workcamps in Serbia, Spain, Turkey, Finland, France, Estonia, Germany, Czech Republic and Italy (summer 2017)
• Act 13: Evaluation meeting (10/2017)

The project also includes non-residential activities:
• Production and promotion of a web documentary for raising awareness on the International Voluntary Service movement and the impact it has on young people, local and international communities, www.youthleaders.online
• Mentoring system of youth leaders during their practice phase
• Assessment of gained competencies of youth leadership and formal recognition with YouthPass and I’VE tool

Project Results:

• 20 youth workers (10 int. and 10 from Serbia) trained through training with standardized methodology of the Alliance of European Voluntary Service Organisations and exchanged for the practice phase among the partners
• 20 local communities hosting workcamps in 9 countries and 400+ international volunteers benefited of the practice phase of youth leaders
• Web documentary www.youthleaders.online widely promoted among the partners, network and beyond, inviting youth leaders and volunteers to join the IVS movement
• A new practice of exchange of leaders piloted and accepted on the network’s level, inserted in its statistics analysis and Plan of Action under Training and Education Policy.

Target Group:

Youth leaders of international volunteer groups gathered in workcamps

Project Spacial Area:

Serbia, Czech Republic, Germany, Turkey, Estonia, France, Spain, Finland, Italy

Funding Sources:

EACEA – Executive Agency for Education, Audiovisual & Culture (48.034 EUR)

Ministry for youth and sport of the Republic of Serbia (2.700 EUR)